


it's a dangerous game

by endofdaysforme



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, It's all angst, i have no fucking clue what this is but enjoy it anyway!, like literally all of it hahahaha i hate myself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-03-08
Packaged: 2019-10-25 08:05:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17721350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/endofdaysforme/pseuds/endofdaysforme
Summary: it’s been two months now.all she got was a letter.none of it makes sense, none of it. toni still doesn’t understand, and god, she’s read that fucking letter at least a million times, to the point now where it’s all crumpled and stained and torn at the edges from how often she’s unfolded it and folded it, keeping it in the breast pocket of her jacket so it’s close to her heart wherever she goes.cheryl just left her.with a broken heart and a mind that’s still trying to find some kind of explanation when the truth is, maybe that’s it.maybe cheryl really was never in love with her. touch starved, abused little cheryl blossom clung to the first person who showed her any care, without any thought about how deeply toni was falling for her, and she grew bored of playing toni around like a fiddle.--aka, cheryl leaves toni with no explanation and a letter, and toni won't stop until she finds her and gets one.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> yo i have no clue what this is, but uh, i hope you like it!
> 
> completely canon compliant until the end of the 3x12, no girl gang was formed, SORRY 'THE PRETTY POISONS.'
> 
> fic title from “Dangerous Game” by Klergy

“toni?”

 

with the sound of her name, antoinette topaz lifts her head up from where it’s resting on the palm of her hand groggily, her mind aching and the back of her throat burning as the sight of veronica lodge slowly comes into view, the expression on the girl’s face filled with sadness and guilt over the sight before her.

 

toni’s mind is spinning, her heart pounding at a million miles an hour, but she still licks her lips and tries to blink away the fatigue and the exhaustion along with the inebriation, the burn of tequila still resting stagnant in the back of her throat. 

 

“toni, you’ve been here for hours…let me drive you back home-.”

 

“can’t…can’t go back there…” toni croaks out, shaking her head once before she’s reaching for the empty shot glass in front of her with trembling fingers. she simply curls her thumb and her index finger over the rim and knocks it onto the counter to signal another shot, and reggie mantle, who’s cleaning glasses from behind the bar, looks to veronica with a frown and nods in agreement when she shakes her head to stop him from pouring her another one. 

 

“maybe she’ll be there waiting-.”

 

“she won’t!” toni growls, slamming the shot glass a little more forcefully now with this choked out whine rumbling low in her throat.

 

she can’t go back to thistlehouse, to her empty bed and her empty life, can’t go back to that room that still _smells_ like her girlfriend, cherries and vanilla and something so purely cheryl blossom, toni’s quite sure the scent will never leave her mind for as long as she lives.

 

it’s been two months now. 

 

all she got was a letter.

 

none of it makes sense, none of it. toni still doesn’t understand, and god, she’s read that fucking letter at least a million times, to the point now where it’s all crumpled and stained and torn at the edges from how often she’s unfolded it and folded it, keeping it in the breast pocket of her jacket so it’s close to her heart wherever she goes. 

 

_toni,_

_i’m sorry, but i can’t do this anymore. i can’t keep living this lie. the truth is, i’m not in love with you, and i never have been. i don’t know why i tried to fool myself into thinking i could make this work. you just cared about me so much, and i latched onto you without taking into account your feelings. i don’t want to hurt you by continuing to live this lie._

_don’t look for me. i can assure you i’m not doing the same for you._

_goodbye,_

_cheryl_

 

she’s looked under ultraviolet lights for secret ink, she’s spent hours poured over this one sheet of paper, trying to decipher any hidden clues, even recruited fucking betty and jughead, someone who she wasn’t even speaking to right now ever since he kicked her out of the serpents, for help, but even _they_ couldn’t find anything suspicious about the letter.

 

cheryl just left her.

 

with a broken heart and a mind that’s still trying to find some kind of explanation when the truth is, maybe that’s _it._

 

maybe cheryl really was never in love with her. touch starved, abused little cheryl blossom clung to the first person who showed her any care, without any thought about how deeply toni was falling for her, and she grew bored of playing toni around like a fiddle.

 

but, fuck, that can’t be it, it _can’t be_ , because toni knows it isn’t and refuses to believe or fathom the possibility of it. 

 

cheryl loves her. she does, she knows she does, she told her she did, over and over and over and over again from the first moment those words left toni’s lips for the first time, from the first moment those words left _cheryl’s_ lips for the first time…she loves her, she does, but the letter…

 

two months.

 

toni’s surely breaking apart. this is the sisters of quiet mercy situation all over again, except this time, cheryl's voluntarily gone, and toni _can’t fucking do this again..._

 

“toni…killing yourself slowly with alcohol isn’t helping…” veronica whispers, reaching out to touch her shoulder, but toni simply shrugs her off with a light growl and a scoff of disbelief, pushing herself up onto the counter to reach over the bar top. she grabs the bottle of tequila by reggie’s hand and pours herself a shot, downing it before veronica can stop her, before even reggie can, and with that, toni pushes herself up off the bar stool she’s seated on, stumbling over her own two feet and making her way to the entrance of _la bonne nuit._

 

she’ll find some other stupid bar that serves underage girls alcohol, fuck it-

 

she collides with something hard, a soft grunt escaping her as strong hands grip her shoulders, and she looks up into the eyes of none other than archie andrews, the boy looking down at her with concern and a furrowed brow.

 

“toni?”

 

she blinks away the tears in her eyes and sniffs once, attempting to push him away with a nod.

 

“andrews…sorry, i’m just heading out-.”

 

“toni, you’re drunk, you’re not going anywhere. come on…” archie murmurs, looking up at veronica, who nods once at him and leads him towards the back of the speakeasy, and toni’s too drunk to even try and fight him off as he grips her elbow and drags her towards the back room quickly, but not unkindly. 

 

“come on…sleep it off, okay? i’ll get you some water…” archie says softly, the look in his eyes all too understanding as he gently lowers her down onto some bed in the corner that toni didn’t even know existed, and honestly, she’s not even sure where she is anymore, everything is just pounding, her body is sore, her head is aching, and her heart…

 

_god, cheryl, where are you? why did you leave…i don’t understand, please, just come back, help me understand…_

 

they loved each other…toni knows they did. so why, why did she just leave, with nothing but a letter that didn’t make any sense, that toni’s spent the last two months trying to understand? how could it even remotely be true that cheryl was never in love with her? 

 

the moments they shared, the days spent cuddled up in that bed, the way cheryl had looked after her when she had her seizure, the way they clung to each other so readily, never getting sick of one another, the way that goddamn girl looked at her every time toni so much as smiled or laughed, the way she had begged toni to let her fix things when she outed moose by accident, all of these things, for cheryl to just turn around and tell her she never loved her?

 

she just wants her back. that’s all, even if it’s just for a moment so she can explain…

 

_i just want her back. please…bring her back to me…_

 

"i want my girl back, andrews...bring her back to me, please..." toni begs, tears falling down her cheeks before she can stop them, and archie simply sighs and rubs her back soothingly before he's taking her boots off gently, more than ready to help her...this isn't his first time helping a drunk toni out in the last two months...

who would've thought archie andrews would be the one to become her good friend?

 

"i know, toni...i know..."

 

"i just want her back...god, please, just let her come back..."

\---------

 

toni’s prayers are answered.

 

another week passes of the same shit, and archie andrews helps her into the backroom of the speakeasy for a third night in a row, takes her boots and her jacket off for her and rubs her back as she cries into his chest until she falls asleep.

except this time, when the morning comes, something changes.

she’s woken in the morning with a pounding headache that only intensifies at the sound of a door bursting open, and when she opens her eyes, the light above her flickers harshly, causing her to groan and blink rapidly before she’s attempting to push herself up at the sound of voices. 

 

“toni? toni, wake up! come on!” 

 

a hand slaps at her shoulder repeatedly, and toni growls under her breath and curls her hand into a fist, striking it out and making contact with something hard before she hears a soft grunt of pain.

 

“fuck off…” she grumbles, burying her face into the pillow and willing herself to go back to sleep, and she hears a loud sigh before that hand on her shoulder grips it tightly.

 

“i know where cheryl is.”

 

toni freezes.

 

she pushes herself up wildly, all her pain forgotten, the hangover, her body, everything…all she can feel is how her heart is pounding against her chest as she turns and looks up to see betty cooper, veronica lodge and archie andrews looking at her with nothing but hope shining in their eyes.

 

_oh god...oh god, please let this be real-_

 

“you better not be messing with me, cooper-.”

 

“i’m not! jughead and i were at the jubilee the other day and we overheard some man talking to someone else about the maple club, penelope’s business? he said something about the ‘mistress of the night’ bringing her daughter in on the action now-.”

 

toni’s blood runs cold, and anything else escaping betty’s mouth just seems to filter through and become nothing but white noise, the bile that rises in the back of her throat having nothing to do with the tequila still resting stagnant there.

 

her mother…god, why didn’t she think of that, how could she be so fucking _stupid-_

 

the maple club should've been the first fucking place she checked she's so fucking dumb-

 

she jumps up, not even caring about the fact that her hair is a mess and her makeup looks equally so, mascara marks staining her cheeks and under her eyes as she grabs her bag and shoves her boots on before she heads to the door with betty, archie and veronica hot on her heels.

 

“toni, wait! let us regroup, work together to find out more-.”

 

“i’m not waiting, betty! i want answers! now!”

"archie..." she hears veronica say, and the red haired boy doesn't even hesitate.

"i'm coming with you, toni." he says firmly. toni only pauses for half a beat, contemplating it before she nods once and keeps walking.

"you drive."

 

\----------------

 

two months.

 

two months of heartache. two months of toni curled up under that bed with the red sheets that she spent so many nights rolling around in with cheryl by her side, crying her eyes out until she could barely _breathe_ , trying to deconstruct, to unscramble her thoughts into more than just ‘pain’ so she could try to understand why cheryl had just up and left her.

 

two months of anguish. of torture.

 

two months, and despite all her pain, the second toni’s eyes land on her, it’s all forgotten.

 

sneaking into the maple club is easy, there’s no fucking security and people are too busy being pleasured to notice this little pink haired southside girl carefully trudging through the hallways, wrinkling her nose at the sound of moans and whips cracking, and when none of those moans register as the one she’s heard so many nights before, toni breathes a sigh of relief and moves from door to door, listening intently for sounds of silence and wincing when she’s only met with the sound of soft whines and screams.

 

it isn’t until the fifth door she reaches that toni is met with nothing but quiet.

 

and almost as if her heart is aware that the girl she loves is on the other side of it, toni easily grips the door handle and pushes it down, swinging the door open with sweat on her brow and her heart beating so fucking erratically, she’s quite sure she’s seconds away from having a heart attack.

 

her eyes land on copper locks trailing down a taut back, a blue silk robe with flowers stitched into it covering that pale skin she loves so much from view, and two months of agony are just…wiped from toni’s mind.

 

it's her...it's her, it's the girl she loves, she's here, she's really here, fuck, fuck, how has it been two months without her-

 

at the sound of the door opening, cheryl blossom looks into the mirror of the vanity she’s sitting on, and when her eyes catch a flash of pink, she averts her gaze with a soft gasp, her fingers immediately gripping onto the wooden vanity to steady herself while toni just watches her from the door in awe, trying to wrap her mind around what the fuck is going on-

 

why is cheryl here? why is cheryl with her mother in this god awful place of all fucking places-

 

“what…what are you doing here?” cheryl croaks out, and god, the sound of her voice has toni’s knees instantly buckling, this pathetic whine escaping her as tears fall down her cheeks before she can even begin to stop them.

 

“ch-cheryl…” toni walks in, closes the door behind her softly, and cheryl jumps up from the vanity with her back still turned to toni, hasn’t met her eyes once as she digs her red manicured nails into the wood once more with her shoulders almost up to her ears with tension.

 

“you need to go. now.” cheryl says roughly, her voice so, so low and filled with so, so much malice that toni doesn’t even know how to begin to process any of it.

 

“cheryl…what’s going on, please, i just-.”

 

“i said get out!” cheryl growls, moving her way over to a dresser in the corner with her back _still fucking turned to toni_ , and the fact that this girl is refusing to even _look_ at her, the fact that girl she loves who has done nothing but hurt her for the last two months with her absence is acting as if she’s the enemy here…

 

it pisses her off. big time.

 

toni bares her teeth and makes her way over to cheryl, her whole body trembling with a mixture of excitement and happiness and also anger and rage, this swirl of emotions making her head spin as she comes to a stop a few feet away from her.

 

“i’m not fucking going anywhere until you tell me what the _fuck_ is going on, cheryl! two months! two months i’ve been trying to wrap my mind around this-.” cheryl cuts her off with a derisive laugh that has toni’s heart pounding wildly, and cheryl’s still not looking at her as she simply glances over her shoulder with a scoff.

 

“wrap your mind around what? it’s simple, isn’t it? i don’t love you, and i never did! i found someone who cared about me, and i clung to you until i got bored of you. that’s all there is to it! nothing more, nothing less!” she says airily, opening one of the drawers and shutting it again absentmindedly as toni simply watches her in mind numbing shock.

 

no…no, she doesn’t mean it, she doesn’t, toni _knows_ she’s lying…

 

doesn’t mean it hurts any less hearing her say those words.

 

_“i don’t love you, and i never did!”_

 

toni swallows thickly, tries to stop herself from getting mad, breathes in through her nose and exhales shakily through her mouth before trying again.

 

“i don’t believe you.” toni croaks out, and she doesn't, she doesn't for a single second, because what they have, that's _love_ and toni knows it is, and toni swears she hears what sounds like a whine of panic escape the girl before her-

 

“well, you should. it’s the truth. now if you don’t leave, i’ll call security.” cheryl hisses, fiddling with the handles of the drawers nervously, her voice trembling slightly as toni scoffs behind her in disbelief.

 

is she fucking serious right now?

 

how is this the girl she fell in love with? granted, yes, cheryl used to be this ice queen head bitch in charge that was nothing but rude and mean, but that cheryl _died_ when toni became a part of her life, when toni showed her how to love and how to be loved in return, when they opened up to each other about the pasts they suffered, the heartache for toni over being raised by a homophobic uncle, cheryl's pain over her abusive mother and the loss of her brother...they bonded because of that, they fell in love because of that-

 

this cheryl? this cheryl isn’t _her cheryl_ , and the mere idea of it is like a knife slicing through her heart, god, how did this happen…

 

she knows this girl like the back of her hand.

 

she's deflecting to save herself from pain, toni knows she is, she can hear it in her voice, see it in her stature, the tension and the trembling of her shoulders-

 

“there is no security.” toni breathes, watching as cheryl’s back tenses up once again, and the red haired girl scoffs before she’s reaching out to grab the phone beside the dresser, her hand closing over the receiver-

 

toni closes the gap between them and slams her hand on top of cheryl’s, and god, the second they make contact, it’s like every ounce of cold that’s been in toni’s body from the moment she read those words on the paper left on her pillow just _disappear._

 

warmth unlike anything she’s ever felt, but god, oh so similar to the one that raced through her veins when her lips met cheryl’s for the first time at the sisters of quiet mercy, floods her body, causes her to interlace her fingers with cheryl’s as the girl lets out a high pitched whine and shivers at her touch, her head ducking down as toni watches her with nothing but sadness heavy in her eyes.

 

“cheryl…” she breathes shakily, her free hand barely ghosting over the fabric of cheryl’s robe, rippling over her spine before she’s stepping forward just that bit closer and resting her forehead on the space between cheryl’s shoulder blades, breathing in that scent, god, that scent that’s clung to every wall, every inch of their room in thistlehouse, that scent she loves so much, that scent that’s been driving her crazy for two months now…

 

_she’s here…she’s here, she’s here…._

 

and just like that, the second toni’s forehead makes contact with her back, and the second her free hand grips the fabric of the robe by her hips, cheryl seems to tremble violently before she’s sobbing loudly, her own free hand moving up to cover her face as she cries into it with nothing but despair.

 

and god, the sound breaks toni to pieces, but she pushes through it, because _something’s not right here…_

 

“cheryl, please…what’s going on, let me help you-.”

 

“toni…i’m b-begging you, go, just g-go, p-please…” cheryl chokes out, whimpering when toni’s hand snakes around her waist to pull her closer, breathing her in because she’s here, she’s actually here-

 

“i can’t, cheryl.” toni whispers hoarsely. cheryl’s head falls back, this sigh of defeat escaping her as she sniffs and toni pulls away from her, her arm still wrapped around cheryl’s waist and clutching her robe between her fingers as the red haired girl exhales shakily.

 

“why?” she croaks out. toni swallows thickly, her fingers tightening on the robe before she closes her eyes and lets her tears fall.

 

two months without her…

 

“because i love you.” toni whispers. cheryl stiffens against her, another whimper escaping her before she finally, _finally_ turns in toni’s arms, her head ducked down to avoid eye contact, and cheryl’s wearing flats, but toni’s wearing her heels, making them the same height as she bites down on her bottom lip to stop it from trembling.

 

“ _go_ , toni…please, i’m begging you to just go…”

 

“no. i’m not leaving, cher. i’m not…cheryl, look at me, please just look at me…” toni begs softly, her hands smoothing over pale skin to grip cheryl’s hands in her own, the cold touch of her fingers causing a shiver to explode up her spine, and god, the tears falling down cheryl’s face are breaking her heart, and toni doesn’t understand why she’s doing this, what’s happening, why she wants toni gone so badly-

 

if she really didn’t love her, why was she crying while begging her to leave?

 

_she **does** love you, toni, how could you ever doubt that she does?_

 

“i c-can’t…i c-can’t look at you, it h-hurts too m-much.” cheryl gasps out, shaking her head and closing her eyes while still keeping her head ducked down, and toni finds herself smiling shakily, her heart clenching as she drops one of cheryl’s hands and decides what to do.

 

_she does love you, toni…_

 

she tucks a finger under cheryl’s chin, lifting her gaze herself and they make eye contact for the briefest moment before toni’s capturing cheryl’s lips with her own, the both of them moaning against each other from the sheer hurt over two months without _this._

 

they fall right back into place, pushing and pulling against each other as cheryl whimpers against toni’s lips before she’s deepening the kiss, gripping toni’s jacket and pulling her impossibly closer while toni wraps her arms around her waist and holds her close, lips harsh and insistent, but so goddamn passionate as she breathes in every inch of cheryl blossom that she can-

 

cheryl’s hands move from her jacket to cup the back of her neck, thumbs pushing under her chin to lift her head just that little bit higher so she can glide her tongue against toni’s desperately, nails scratching at her skin before those thumbs move up to brush over her cheekbones, and toni can’t believe that she ever, ever wallowed in self-pity and anger, can’t believe she ever thought for a second that this girl in her arms didn’t love her-

"god, i've missed you, i've missed you so much-." toni breathes against cheryl's lips between desperate kisses, her fingers tangling in the fabric of her robe to pull her closer as cheryl whines loudly and digs her nails into her skin- 

 

“cheryl? there’s more sheets that need cleaning!”

 

a sharp knock at the door has them springing apart, a soft gasp escaping cheryl as she pulls away from toni like she’s just been shocked, and toni feels nothing but anger as her blood boils at the sound of the voice at the door.

 

penelope blossom.

 

she’s done this, she’s caused these two months of separation, toni’s going to _kill her-_

 

“i’m-i’m coming, mother! i’m just getting dressed!” cheryl calls out shakily, her bottom lip trembling as penelope huffs on the other side of the door before the sound of her heels clicking on the ground echoes out and fades away. 

 

toni’s grip around cheryl’s waist tightens, refusing to let her go, and cheryl looks down at her breathlessly, more tears falling down her cheeks and mascara staining her pale skin as she shakes her head and grips her elbows to try and pull toni off her.

 

“you have to go, t.t. you have to, please-.”

 

“cheryl, i’m not leaving you here, you can’t ask me to do that-.”

 

“you don’t have a choice! toni, please, just go!” cheryl begs her urgently, pushing her towards the door desperately, but toni digs her heels into the ground and shakes her head with a grit of her teeth.

 

she’s not fucking leaving here without her girlfriend-

 

“cheryl, just stop! tell me what's going on, why are you doing this?!” toni cries out, gripping cheryl’s arms to stop her from trying to push her away, and cheryl whimpers and chokes on a sob before she’s taking in this shuddering breath with thick tears streaming down her face.

 

“because my m-mother put your n-name on the gargoyle king’s hit list, toni! and if i d-don’t do as she says, she’ll m-make sure it stays there!” 

 

toni blinks once, twice, three times, tries to understand what the _fuck_ cheryl just said-

 

“i…what?” she says instead breathlessly, and cheryl sniffs back her tears and grips toni’s face in her hands, chocolate brown eyes staring into her own with nothing but grief and anguish.

 

“she t-told me…she was the gamemaster when the m-midnight club played the g-game. this is a quest, toni…a quest where if i l-lose, you die. so when i t-tell you to g-go…i mean you n-need to go. p-please, toni, just go, because if she finds out you’re h-here, it’s game over, and he’ll come for you, and i c-can’t lose you, toni, please-.” cheryl’s hysterically crying now, her breath escaping her in shuddered gasp, and toni lets her own tears fall.

 

it's that game...that stupid fucking game is responsible for all of this? god, this can't be happening...

 

"cheryl, it's...it's just a game-."

 

"it's not, toni, it's not a game! it's not a game, all those fake gargoyle kings, they're _nothing_ compared to the real one, and i-i can't risk you getting hurt, i c-can't, so please...please, just go-." she sobs before toni cuts her off and kisses cheryl fiercely, trying to dedicate the taste of her lips to her brain as cheryl whines against her loudly and holds her closer, pulling away just a second too soon and resting her forehead against toni’s.

 

“i can’t leave without you, baby…” toni croaks out, gripping her wrists and sighing shakily when cheryl presses a kiss to her brow softly.

 

“you have to.” she chokes out, pushing her towards the door once again, and toni pulls away from her, stares at her face, maps out each feature and burns it into her brain as cheryl smiles sadly and brushes her thumb over toni’s swollen lips.

 

“i love you, toni. and god, i've missed you so much, but you have to go, please…” she begs, pushing her again, and toni grips the handle of the door with one hand and cups cheryl’s cheek with the other, kissing her deeply and brushing away her tears before she pulls away slowly.

 

“i love you, too. i’m gonna get you out of this quest, cheryl, i promise. just hang on a little longer for me, baby, i’m gonna fix this, okay?” toni breathes against her lips, and cheryl swallows thickly before she nods against her once, sighing as toni pulls the door open and quickly glances into the hallways before looking back at cheryl in despair.

 

she doesn’t want to leave her. she wants to find penelope blossom and make her pay, wants to grab cheryl’s hand and run out of this fucking place with her, but cheryl’s right.

 

if there’s one thing she’s learned throughout this whole gryffons and gargoyles bullshit, it’s that the gargoyle king isn’t to be trifled with. moose mason's dad, tall boy, all these fake outs, and yet the game was still here, which meant this was something _more._ and the way archie had been branded...cheryl's fucking right.

 

if cheryl doesn’t complete the quest, toni dies. 

 

_fuck that evil fucking woman…_

 

“i’m gonna end this, cher. i’m gonna get you back.” toni promises, and cheryl simply smiles, keeps their fingers interlaced until the last goddamn second before toni finally forces herself to pull away and makes her way towards the entrance of the maple club, her heart racing with anguish and anger as she reluctantly takes each step out of the club instead walking through it to find penelope blossom and kill her.

 

because the truth is, penelope blossom is only a goddamn pawn in this game.

 

if she wants to end this suffering, she needs to go to the source.

 

when she finally exits the club and makes her way around the block to where archie andrews has his car parked waiting for her, she jumps in and wipes away the rest of her tears with gritted teeth, swallowing thickly and clenching her jaw as archie looks at her in shock.

 

“where’s cheryl?”

 

“in there.” toni deadpans, nodding towards the club, her heart breaking with each second that passes without cheryl by her side. archie licks his lips nervously, and toni turns to look at him before she holds her hand out for him to take.

 

“you’re my friend, right, andrews?” she murmurs, watching as the boy takes her hand without hesitation with a nod, but a frown nonetheless.

 

“yeah, of course i am. i wouldn't have helped you out these last two months if you weren't." he says simply, and toni nods once before she stares out of the front window with nothing but determination.

 

good...she's got archie, and she may not be a serpent anymore, but she knows jughead will have her back in this. regardless, she's going to finish this with or without anyone's help.

 

“then i’m gonna need your help with something.” 

 

“and that something is?” archie asks. toni thinks about soft, pillowly lips and red hair, about chocolate brown eyes filled with tears and she exhales shakily before squaring her shoulders and looking to archie with nothing but anger.

 

“i’m gonna kill the fucking gargoyle king.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i still don't know what this is, but one more chapter i guess while i come up with a conclusion! lmao
> 
> also for the sake of this narrative, let's just say that nana rose is in a retirement home, okay? okay.
> 
> anyway, leave a comment letting me know what you think, or you can shout at me on twitter at @endofdaysforme.
> 
> Also mild smut and tw: for mentions of abuse 
> 
> bye now!

“alright, there we go…up you get…”

 

archie andrews’s resounding sigh echoes loudly in her ear as toni settles down on the mattress with a huff, the world spinning slightly and her body aching as archie finishes taking off her boots with a frown etched on his face.

 

“thanks, arch…” toni mumbles, the taste of tequila stagnant in the back of her throat as archie sits down by her legs with a sigh, rubbing one hand up her shin comfortingly.

 

she's not quite sure where she'd be if it wasn't for archie andrews for the last month and a half or so to be honest...he's been a goddamn saint, and who would've ever thought that archie andrews and toni topaz would strike up such a strong friendship?

 

“toni, you know you’re not gonna be able to fight the gargoyle king when you’re drunk, right?” archie says softly, his hand gripping her leg slightly to steady her as she rolls over with a groan and buries her nose into cheryl’s pillow, breathing in the scent that’s still clinging to the goose feathered pillow almost three months later…

 

“drunk or not, that fucker is dead.” toni says firmly, sighing and closing her eyes, imagining cheryl beside her right now, her soft red curls falling down her chest, that sleepy smile she gets and the way she groans whenever toni pulls her close and presses a kiss to her neck or her cheek or her forehead with a soft whisper of ‘good morning’…

 

“still…get your shit together, topaz. i know you miss cheryl, but drowning yourself in alcohol every night isn’t gonna help her…isn’t gonna help anything…trust me, i know.” archie says with a mournful sigh, and toni purses her lips but says nothing.

 

she knows he’s right. she knows that…but fuck, it _hurts._

 

how is she supposed to go on with the pain, with the knowledge that her girlfriend was stuck in her own personal brand of hell? was stuck with her mother, her abusive, sadistic mother with no way out or else her girlfriend, the woman she loves, could die as a result of it?

 

“she’s still in there, archie…for two months, i didn’t know where she was, but now i _do_ know where _and_ why, and these last few weeks…knowing she’s at that fucking club, having to obey her mother and do god knows what, knowing that she never wanted to leave me, that it's all been a lie...it’s killing me.” toni croaks out, tears threatening to spill from her eyes as she blinks them back and buries her face further into cheryl’s pillow with a whine.

 

it’s been three weeks now since she saw cheryl at the maple club, and every single second of her time has gone towards finding the gargoyle king. she’s barely slept, barely eaten, barely done anything but search every inch of this god forsaken town for clues, but still…nothing.

 

it’s gotten to the point now where toni’s starting to feel helpless, but she thinks about cheryl, about the look on her face when she had seen toni, about how she’d fought so hard to get toni to just leave, all so that she could protect her…

 

toni’s not giving up. not by a long shot. yes, she’s exhausted, and hungry, and beaten and defeated, but she’s _not giving up._

 

she’d rather die than ever give up on cheryl blossom.

 

but cheryl’s _stuck_ there, and toni doesn’t know how to get her out without risking her own life…she just wants this to be over, she wants to kill that twiggy son of a bitch and have cheryl back in her arms in this goddamn bed again…

 

“do…do you think her mother’s making her do…you know…” archie trails off with a mumble, and toni presses the heel of her palms into her eyes with a groan and a shake of her head before she turns to face him.

 

“i don’t know, archie…why the fuck do you think i’m drinking every night?” she whines, the thought of penelope making cheryl…making her do the things those other girls do at her club…

 

after what nick had done to her, too, oh god, toni needs to get her out of there-

 

“okay, we’ll keep working on it, toni. you, me, betty, jughead, veronica, reggie, josie…we’re not gonna stop until we find him and end this once and for all.” archie says through clenched teeth, the idea of cheryl being used and pimped out by her mother clearly upsetting the red haired boy just as much, and toni simply smiles shakily and nods once before archie jumps up and leans down to press a kiss to her brow. 

 

“get some rest. we’ll try again tomorrow, whether you have a hangover or not.” he chuckles, but toni nods firmly in affirmation.

 

“roger that, andrews.” he grins at that, and toni watches as he leaves, heading to the door and looking back at her once more with a smile before the sound of the front door closing all the way downstairs echoes out. 

 

toni has no idea when she passes out, somewhere between her crying and soaking her own pillow with her tears while her hand rubs the spot where cheryl is supposed to be, the emptiness making her feel even more hollow than it ever did before.

 

she thought seeing cheryl would help, she thought knowing where cheryl was would make her feel better, would help this situation, but god, it’s just made everything worse…she misses her. she misses her so much it’s like her heart just won’t stop aching, and with the situation cheryl is in, it just makes it all hurt even more.

 

the fact that she's stuck with that woman again...after she tried so fucking hard to separate herself from penelope blossom...she just hooked her claws right back into cheryl's skin and dragged her back into submission, it isn't _fair..._

 

toni dreams of the scent of cherries and vanilla, dreams of soft, pillowy red lips and a laugh that makes her heart ache with affection, dreams of nights spent in a warm bed with her arms wrapped around a gentle body, the feeling of pale, cold skin beneath her lips, of fingers raking through her hair, nails scratching at her scalp-

 

“toni? wake up, t.t…” 

 

something gentle and warm is pressed against her brow, that feeling of nails scratching through her scalp intensifying as a hum of content escapes her, hands reaching out and making contact with cotton fabric-

 

“toni? it’s me, wake up, babe…” 

 

those words, that voice…oh god, she’s losing her mind now, why does it feel so _real_ -

 

“toni…” 

 

soft lips press against her own, and at the feeling of them, toni feels her whole body freeze, feels the tears well in her eyes at the familiarity of it before she’s digging her fingers into the cotton fabric at her touch and pulling on it to bring the body next to her closer, deepening the kiss with a whine that’s quickly echoed by the girl in front of her before they both pull away breathlessly-

 

“cheryl?” toni croaks out, opening her eyes to meet equally hazel ones that seem to shine with tears as cheryl falls down against the pillow beside toni with a happy sigh, this beautiful smile lighting up her face as her fingers brush over every inch of toni’s face.

 

“i’m…i’m dreaming, aren’t i?” toni whines, rubbing her eyes and clearing her throat, anguish gripping her that her dreams have now altered her reality as cheryl’s eyes roam over her face, drinking in every inch of her before she shakes her head and presses their foreheads together with a shaky exhale.

 

“no. i wish you were…it would mean that i didn’t do something stupid by sneaking out of the maple club and coming to see you. it would mean that i’m not risking your life by being here.” cheryl murmurs, swallowing thickly and clenching her jaw, but all toni can register is that she said she's not dreaming.

 

she’s not dreaming, so...she's really here?

 

cheryl’s here, she’s here-

 

“cher…cher-bear, oh my god-.” toni wraps her arms around cheryl immediately, rolling on top of her and hugging her close, burying her face into a pale neck and breathing her in, and god, it’s so much better than a fucking pillow with a fading fragrance, so much better than anything toni’s dreamt of or the last two months-

 

“you’re here, you’re here…” toni chants _over and over again_ , the happiness pounding through her indescribable as cheryl presses kiss after kiss to every inch of her face she can reach.

 

“i shouldn’t be…god, i shouldn’t be here at all, toni, but i had to s-see you-.” cheryl whines, her arms enclosing around toni’s body and holding her just as tightly, but toni pulls back and grips cheryl’s face into her hands, kissing her deeply with a soft sob as cheryl digs her nails into toni’s back and breathes in, one hand trailing up her spine and tangling in pink hair desperately, tongues sliding against each other’s languidly…

 

she's here. she got out, she got out, god, _how_ is she here? what happened to penelope? is the game over? can she finally come home?

 

“you taste like tequila.” cheryl murmurs against her lips, pulling back with a frown, and toni licks her lips, tongue snaking out to wet them as cheryl brushes her hair back from her face with a shaky smile.

 

"i was scared you might not be in thistlehouse. i'm glad you stayed here...i didn't want to spend what little time we might have together tonight searching the town for you." she croaks out, fingers raking through her hair continuously as toni just simply...takes her in.

 

three months without her, it's like a _lifetime_ has come and gone. a very miserable, very lonely lifetime...

 

"cher..." she's speechless, incapable of words, but cheryl just seems to fill the space in anyway, this radiant smile on her face as her eyes roam over every inch of toni's face...

 

“you’re so beautiful, t.t…i’ve missed you so much…” she breathes, her thumb ghosting over toni’s slightly swollen lips as the pink haired girl presses a kiss to it and takes in every inch of cheryl’s face…her eyes falling on the bruise on her cheek that’s yellow and faded, only some parts blue and discolored-

 

her cheek…her cheek, someone hurt her, it’s bruised, someone _touched her-_

 

“cher…baby, who did this?” toni says through clenched teeth, anger quickly rising in her that’s brushed away when a tear leaks from the corner of cheryl’s left eye, falling into her hair with a quick whimper and a shake of her head.

 

“it doesn’t matter…it doesn’t matter, toni, just…please, please kiss me-.” toni silences her, obeys her wish, captures cheryl’s bottom lip between her own, tears falling down her face and her thumb still brushing over the wound on her cheek as the pain of cheryl getting hurt without her being there to defend her hits her like a tidal wave, and god, she wants to murder whoever touched her girl, whoever dared to lay a hand on her…

 

“i…i should go back before my mother finds out i’m gone, t.t. i just...i wanted to see you. even if it's just for a little bit-.” cheryl croaks out, but toni shakes her head before cheryl can even finish her sentence.

 

“no. you’re not going back, cher, no way.” toni says firmly, refusing to even entertain the idea of cheryl leaving her again tonight. cheryl's eyes widen, and she swallows thickly before she shakes her head with a deep whine from the back of her throat.

 

"i c-can't, toni. i want to stay, more than anything, but your life is in danger, the quest is still going-."

 

"fuck the quest, cheryl! you’re staying right here, okay? right here where i can keep you safe." toni whispers, trailing kisses from the corner of cheryl’s mouth over to her bruised cheek softly, smiling against alabaster skin when cheryl relaxes further and further into her touch, her fingers dancing up and down toni’s spine before she nuzzles her head against toni’s and closes her eyes.

 

“i don’t want to leave you again, toni. the last three weeks without you have been so painful, and the two months before that…unfathomable. i never wanted to leave you in the first place, t.t., but she…the way she said your name, with so much venom, and the way she looked so…so _proud_ , so _happy_ , to be creating a new game with the gargoyle king…” cheryl’s jaw clenches, anger blazing in her eyes as toni brushes her hair back from her face affectionately, her eyes still on that goddamn bruise on her cheek.

 

she needs to know what the hell is going on, once and for all…

 

“what did she say, cheryl? what happened that day, why did you leave me with just a letter?” toni croaks out, the weight of her body on top of cheryl’s causing the red haired girl to wince, and toni moves back off her, sits up straight and pulls cheryl up with her before she settles onto her lap, legs encircling around her lower back as cheryl reaches underneath her shirt to brush her fingers up and down her spine slowly. toni watches her face carefully, her own hands dancing up and down cheryl’s arms, over the soft fabric of the long sleeved white shirt she’s wearing. cheryl’s face is almost expressionless, her eyes distant and as haunted as the day toni met her as she looks up at the pink haired girl with a shaky sigh and pursed lips before she begins talking.

 

“i…i was at pop’s, that evening…picking us up food, do you remember?” cheryl says hoarsely, looking up into toni’s eyes and watching as toni frowns before she nods slowly. cheryl had left to get them pop’s, both of them too tired from school and studying to make food for themselves, and when cheryl had come back…

 

when cheryl had come back, toni had noticed something was different. she was quiet, but toni knew that cheryl had days where she’d sometimes think about jason and her father, or nick and her time at the sisters of quiet mercy, and she’d get into a slump, and toni had learned long ago that in those moments, all cheryl really needed was for toni to be there…not to necessarily say anything, or probe her about how she was feeling, but to just _be there._ and so toni had held her close that night and pressed kisses to her hair, and she’d fallen asleep none the wiser…only to wake up with a letter on the pillow next to her, a letter that had ruined her entire world, shattered it into a million pieces with each word she took in-

 

“yeah…” toni says simply instead, not trusting herself to say anything else, and cheryl licks her lips and swallows loudly before she nods once.

 

“i was on my way out when my mother walked in. she grabbed my arm before i could even get to the car, pulled me back and asked me what i was doing. i told her i was getting food for us, and she just…had this smile, this sinister smile that made my heart drop, toni.” toni feels the goosebumps that rise on cheryl’s skin under her shirt, her brows knitting together in concern as cheryl clenches her teeth and closes her eyes before she keeps talking.

 

“she told me…she told me to keep you close, because i wouldn’t have you for long, and when i asked her what the hell she meant by that, she told me that you…that you wouldn’t be around much longer if she could help it.” tears immediately begin falling down cheryl’s cheeks, her bottom lip trembling as toni reaches her hands up to cup the side of her neck, her lips pressing a kiss to cheryl’s brow tenderly as the girl beneath her exhales shakily against her.

 

“god, toni, i wanted nothing more than to dump my milkshake over her head and demand she leave us the hell alone, but her words, they sounded so sincere…i was _scared_ , and maybe i should’ve ignored her and kept walking, but i couldn’t, i c-couldn’t risk it, i couldn’t risk you-.” toni silences her with a desperate kiss, wishes she could go back to that day, wishes she hadn’t had a stomach ache so she could’ve gone with cheryl to pop’s, could’ve dumped that milkshake over that vile woman’s red head and maybe punched her too for added measure-

 

“she t-told me she was r-running a quest, that she was gamemaster back in the day when she was in school, and that…and that if i didn’t leave you, the gargoyle king would kill you. and i brushed it off at first, toni, but then…but then she pointed outside of pop’s window, and when i looked out…” cheryl’s eyes suddenly glaze over as she pulls back from toni, fear and something toni can’t quite put her finger on shining in them as her lips quiver and her whole body just seems to tense up beneath toni’s body.

 

“he was there. the gargoyle king…and i can’t explain it, toni, i can’t explain the fear i felt, the panic that gripped me, but the second i saw him, i _knew_ she wasn’t lying. and that scared me more than anything. i asked her what she wanted from me, and she told me i had to leave you…that the quest involved me leaving everything b-behind, giving everything up and coming with her, and i…i believed her. i believed that she was capable of hurting you, of k-killing you and i was _so scared_ , toni. i c-couldn't lose you, i _still_ can't lose you...so i asked her to just let me say goodbye to you…” cheryl breathes, her hands gripping toni’s sides, nails sinking into her skin as if she’s reassuring herself that toni is here, and toni is having a hard time taking in the fact that cheryl is here, too…

 

she doesn't even know how to begin to process everything cheryl is saying...

 

“i didn’t know what else to do, toni, i didn’t know how to get you to believe that i was doing this for your own safety so i just…lied. wrote in the letter th-that i d-didn’t love you anymore, that i never did, and it hurt, it hurt so much-.”

 

“i didn’t believe it. not for a second, i…i had my doubts, but not for a second did i believe it, cheryl. god, i looked for you every day, i…i tried so h-hard, cher!” toni chokes on a sob, but cheryl brushes her tears away with the back of her hand before she’s pressing gentle kisses to her cheeks and brow.

 

“shh…shh, i’m so sorry, toni…i’m so sorry…it was the hardest thing i’ve ever done, even leaving jay jay by the river wasn’t as hard as leaving that letter, i…god, i’m so sorry-.”

 

toni simply shakes her head and silences her with a kiss once more, trying to control her anger at penelope blossom, at the gargoyle king, at everyone for trying to keep them apart as she simply focuses on the feeling of cheryl’s body against her own, red nails raking down her golden skin and leaving red trail marks over her flesh as she tries to pour every ounce of love and care she has for cheryl into this one kiss…

 

cheryl hisses in pain suddenly, pulling back from toni’s touch as toni looks down at her in surprise, and cheryl lets out a shaky breath, her hand moving up to touch her ribs with a wince…and toni knows that look all too well, knows that kind of pain, that kind of struggle...

 

“cher…how hurt are you?” toni whispers, holding cheryl close in an attempt to calm herself down as cheryl lets out a shaky sigh against her and leans her forehead against toni’s with a whimper.

 

“i…for the last three months she’s just b-been making me clean the rooms and the sheets and the floors of the club, like her goddamn maid, but a few days ago…” cheryl trails off, her eyes filling with more tears as she grips onto toni tightly to anchor herself, her eyes closing and her bottom lip trembling-

 

“a few days ago she told me she wanted me to start doing…the _other_ part of it, to join the g-girls and start…start servicing m-men, that maybe it would help rid me of my deviant ways, that it would make me forget all about you, and i told her to go to hell and that i'd rather die than forget you, and she h-hit me, like she always used to, and i thought…i thought i escaped that, t-toni, i thought i’d n-never have to go through that again-.”

 

toni pulls cheryl’s head to her chest, tears falling down both their cheeks, and cheryl’s nails digging into her back is the only thing stopping her from jumping off this bed and running straight to the maple club to tear penelope blossom to pieces, her anger making her dig her nails a little too harshly into cheryl’s scalp as cheryl sobs into her chest and holds her close.

 

“i don’t want to g-go back, but t-toni, your life is in d-danger-.” toni shakes her head and pulls back, holding cheryl’s face in her hands as tears fall down both their faces. 

 

“shh, that doesn’t matter, cher-bear…it doesn’t matter, all i care about is you right now, shh…i’ve got you, she’s not going to hurt you again…” cheryl grips the front of her shirt and pulls her close, smashing their lips together with a desperate sob, and toni brushes her thumbs over her cheeks to get rid of the tears as she kisses her deeply, tears clinging to their eyelashes. cheryl wraps her arms around toni’s waist and pulls her flush against her body, her head tipping back as toni pushes her down slowly onto the bed, knees resting on either side of cheryl’s hips as the red haired girl digs her nails into toni’s thighs, breathing into their next kiss shakily. 

 

“i love you, toni…i’ve missed you so much, it's like i haven't been able to breathe properly since i left you…” cheryl whispers against her lips, and toni grips the hem of her long sleeved white shirt and pulls it up and over cheryl’s head, tossing it over the side of the bed and brushing her fingers over the pale skin of cheryl’s ribs, the black and blue blotches making tears fall before she can stop them as cheryl stares up at her breathlessly in awe, lips parted, pupils blown-

 

“cher…” toni licks her lips, shakes her head and moves her hands until she’s cupping her ribs into her palms and smoothing the skin as much as she can, sighing when cheryl leans up into her touch before she’s sitting up slightly to curl a hand around the back of toni’s neck to bring her down again.

 

toni connects their lips again in a bruising kiss, teeth nipping at cheryl’s bottom lip and drawing out a long moan from her before her hands move up from toni’s thighs to grip the hem of her shirt and pull it up over her head as well, sitting up slightly to do so before toni rests her hands on cheryl’s shoulders to push her back down lightly, her lips moving back down to kiss the corner of cheryl’s mouth, down to the trail of her jawline, to her neck, sucking at her pulse point, her mind spinning as cheryl’s breathy moan of her name echoes in her ear, her body arching up against toni’s in desperation to get them as close as possible.

 

“toni…i want you, please-.”

 

“shh, baby…i’m here…i’m right here.” toni whispers, pulling back to scratch her nails through the side of cheryl’s hair, tucking the strands behind her ear with a smile as cheryl lets out a shaky breath and runs her fingers up and down toni’s sides, gripping the skin and massaging the flesh into the palms of her hands. 

 

“i d-don’t have to g-go back, right?” cheryl breathes, this look of worry in her eyes, and god, it breaks toni’s heart in half, her bottom lip trembling before she can stop it as she nods furiously and leans down to kiss cheryl softly.

 

“you’re never going back, cher-bear. i’m gonna protect you…from the gargoyle king, from penelope, from everyone who wants to hurt you-.”

 

“but they want to hurt _you_ , t.t…” cheryl whimpers, pushing toni back to grip her face in her hands, but toni simply curls her fingers around cheryl’s wrists with a smile before pressing a kiss to her palm lightly.

 

“then we’ll protect each other. but no matter what…god, no matter what, we don’t _leave each other again_ , okay? don’t do that to me again, cheryl, please-.”

 

“i won’t…i won’t, i promise.” cheryl whispers, pulling her into another kiss before toni pulls away to press gentle kisses down the column of her throat, nudging her chin up with the tip of her nose as cheryl obeys her every move with breathless pants.

 

god, the taste of her skin, the sound of her heart thundering in her chest, the feeling of her body heating up with each kiss that toni presses against it, nothing will ever compare to this, ever, ever, ever-

 

toni’s missed her so much…

 

toni’s shaking fingers reach for the front clasp of cheryl’s bra, her eyes moving up to reach cheryl’s as the red haired girl rakes her fingers through toni’s hair with a smile, pursing her lips and nodding once before toni quickly pulls the clasp apart and pulls it back, her eyes taking in the sight of cream colored skin that hasn’t been exposed to her in almost three months, the way goosebumps seem to immediately rise over cheryl’s body at the cool breeze that comes in through the open window, and she’s trying so hard not to look just a little further down to the bruises that mar her girlfriend’s ribs, the skin jutting out, swollen and discolored, god, toni’s going to kill penelope blossom, she’s going to rip her apart-

 

“toni…” gentle hands cup her face before her gaze is being pulled up, and cheryl smiles sadly before she’s pulling toni down to meet her lips in a fervent kiss, one of her hands moving down to reach for toni’s before she’s dragging it up to rest over her left breast.

 

“touch me, please…” cheryl breathes, barely giving toni any time to do so before she’s arching up into her touch desperately, and toni brushes her thumb over a pert nipple before she attaches her lips back to cheryl’s and uses just a bit more force with her hand, squeezing gently at the flesh and relishing in the deep moan that escapes cheryl from the action, the rumble from her throat causing her lips to vibrate against toni’s. 

 

toni knows there’s still so many questions she wants answers to, but right now, with cheryl’s body pressed so tightly against hers, all she can think about is making her girlfriend feel good, giving her something other than the pain and anguish she’s had to endure for the last three months…

 

“i love you, cheryl.” toni whispers against her lips, smiling against them when cheryl reaches for the clasp behind her back, unclipping it quickly and slowly dragging the material down and off of toni’s arms.

 

“i love you, toni. i’m sorry…i’m so sorry-.”

 

“shh…we can talk after, okay? right now…god, right now, i just wanna worship every inch of you…” cheryl bites down on her bottom lip before she nods desperately, and toni ducks her head down to spatter kisses over her collarbones, the heated skin beneath her lips making her shiver as cheryl pulls her down flush against her body. the both of them moan at the feeling of skin on skin contact, toni’s hands moving to cheryl’s sides to grip into her as her lips trail further down, nose nudging the curve of her breasts as cheryl’s nails scratch down her shoulder blades in pleasure.

 

toni fights back a hiss of pain at the action and instead focuses on the way cheryl’s body is reacting to her touch. she moves a hand over her stomach, kneading the flesh before she’s trailing the tip of a finger between the valley of her breasts with a smile, and when the goosebumps erupt over cheryl’s skin at her touch, a very visible shudder taking over her body, toni leans down and curls a hand around cheryl’s back to pull her up closer to her mouth, her tongue swirling over the pink bud of her right breast languidly. cheryl whines loudly, her nails scratching through toni’s scalp, desperate to push her down closer, for toni to take more of her into her mouth, which she does, her free hand moving up to pinch and roll her other nipple between her fingers. 

 

“toni…” cheryl whines, her breath hitching when toni grazes her teeth over her skin gently before she pulls away with a loud pop and moves her attention down to the bruises on her ribs, the tears in her eyes quickly blinked away before she’s lathering the skin with soft kisses and gentle caresses that have cheryl sighing in content with her own fingers still running through toni’s hair affectionately. 

 

“don’t let her take me from you again, t.t…” cheryl whispers, and at the sound of her little nickname, the thing that separates her from all the other names people have given her over the years, the name so exclusively cheryl’s and cheryl’s _only_ , toni smiles and looks up at her, pressing a kiss between her breasts before she kisses her softly, gripping her face in her hands and brushing her thumbs over damp cheeks gently. 

 

“never. i promise.” she whispers back against her lips, and when cheryl smiles and gives her a small kiss once more, toni moves down her body once more, reaching for the button of her jeans and popping it open with two fingers before she uses those two fingers to pull down the zipper slowly, giving cheryl the time to back out if she wants, because all toni could ever think about giving her is everything and anything she wants…

 

“i never sh-should have left-.”

 

“cheryl, stop…you can’t change what happened, it’s okay. just relax, you’re safe.” toni says hoarsely, and it isn’t until those words leave her lips that toni realizes that that’s what cheryl needs to hear.

 

because her whole body just seems to crash against the mattress, this choked out sob escaping her as toni looks up at her with concern before she moves back up the bed to place a kiss right between her eyes.

 

“you’re safe, cher-bear. i’m not gonna let anything happen to us, okay? you’re… _we’re safe_ , i promise.” 

 

cheryl lets out a shaky breath against her before she nods, her fingers hooking into the belt loops of toni’s jeans before she’s working the buttons open and pulling the zipper down, and toni smiles and kisses the corner of her mouth before she moves down once more, placing gentle, warm kisses over every inch of her body she can reach as she does. 

 

her tongue snakes into the dip of her bellybutton, pulling out a loud groan from cheryl before toni curls her fingers into the waistband of her jeans and gently begins tugging them down, smiling as cheryl lifts her hips off the bed to assist her with a soft chuckle. she leaves a trail of kisses down the skin that’s exposed with each inch that’s lowered until cheryl’s kicking them off from around her ankles impatiently, causing toni to laugh as she repeats to process with cheryl’s panties. 

 

perfectly manicured nails dig into her scalp as she pulls the material off cheryl’s legs quickly, growing impatient herself, her heart thundering somewhere in her stomach from the excitement and god, just the sheer _happiness_ she feels right now, having cheryl beneath her body once again…

 

toni’s eyes land on a deep blue bruise right on the skin above cheryl’s hipbone, this one not even remotely in the process of fading, and she brushes her thumb over it and breathes in through her nose to stop herself from screaming, her eyes meeting cheryl’s, watching as she bites down on her lower lip and looks down at toni anxiously before she shakes her head slowly.

 

“don’t be upset, it doesn’t hurt…nothing hurts when i’m with you, t.t.” 

 

and it’s romantic and it’s soft, and it makes toni’s heart ache with affection, but it also makes her so goddamn mad that these marks are on _her girlfriend_ , that she wasn’t there to stop it, and the image of cheryl cowering in a corner while penelope blossom slapped her and kicked her around like she was a piece of meat instead of her own goddamn fucking daughter-

 

_“you think this is a way to live, ant!? it’s disgusting! **you’re** disgusting!”_

 

her uncle’s words reverberate in her mind like a plague, and all too quickly does toni find herself crying, these tears falling down her eyes that she can’t stop as she draws in shuddering breaths, and cheryl’s frown of confusion only stays present for a few seconds before she’s pushing herself up and wrapping her arms around toni, pulling her down until her face is buried into cheryl’s neck as her arms wrap around her tightly, refusing to let her go-

 

“shh…toni, i’m here. i’m here, it’s okay…” cheryl whispers, her fingers brushing through toni’s hair comfortingly, and god, she’s naked on the bed, had toni’s mouth seconds away from giving her the pleasure that she’s likely been missing for three months now, and toni just ripped it away from her with this stupid panic attack out of nowhere-

 

“i’m s-sorry-.”

 

“don’t you dare, toni topaz. just breathe, babe, shh…” 

 

toni knows that pain. it’s part of the reason why she was drawn to cheryl from the get go, part of the reason why she was so goddamn adamant to talk to her, to get to know her, to _love her._

 

because she saw it in her eyes from the second they met toni’s. that look of pain. that look of anger at not only everyone around her, but at herself. toni had it, too. and not for any real reason other than her uncle forced it on her with his constant verbal and physical abuse from the second he caught her kissing natasha price in her bedroom at their trailer when she was fourteen. 

 

cheryl had her mother, likely her father, too. toni had her uncle.

 

demons from a past filled with way too much heartbreak and sadness.

 

“wh-why, why did th-they happen to us, ch-cher? i w-wish…god, i wish th-they never happened to us-.”

 

“i know, t.t….i know.” cheryl whispers brokenly, her tears falling into toni’s hair as she presses kisses to her hairline in an attempt to calm her down. 

 

toni gulps down as much air as she can, her whole body trembling in cheryl’s arms as the red haired girl rubs comfortingly circles into her lower back with her fingers, her throat bobbing with her own deep breaths of air as they both try to erase the thoughts of terror invading their minds. it isn’t long before toni’s pushing herself up and sniffing back tears as she grips cheryl’s face in her hands and kisses her, desperate to get back to where they were before, to please cheryl, to give her what she wants-

 

there’s a deep thud that echoes out downstairs, followed by a high pitched noise that has both cheryl and toni wincing as they pull away from each other, covering their ears and looking to the door in confusion before all too suddenly, it stops.

 

toni breathes heavily, panic quickly gripping her as cheryl looks at her with wide eyes before she’s letting out a whimper, her bottom lip trembling as she grabs toni’s arm and digs her nails into her bicep.

 

“oh god…oh god, toni, that’s…that’s the sound i heard that day at pop’s! he’s here, he’s here, he’s c-coming for you-.” toni stares at her in complete and utter confusion as she frantically begins to cry hysterically, toni gripping her hand tightly in her own in an effort to calm her.

 

“what? who-.”

 

“the gargoyle king! he’s here, toni, he’s h-here, i n-never should’ve come-." cheryl cries, her chest heaving, and toni feels her heart drop, but she focuses entirely on cheryl in front of her-

 

“shh, cher, stay calm, it’s okay-cheryl, look at me!” toni grips cheryl’s face in her hands and tears her gaze away from the door, the panic that’s quickly settling deep into her bones making her whole body shake as she clenches her jaw and forces cheryl to look into her eyes, her cheeks slightly squished from how hard toni is gripping her.

 

“it’s okay! we’re gonna be okay, just breathe! cheryl…you don’t leave my side, not for a second, do you understand me?” toni says firmly, the fight in her fight or flight instincts quickly kicking in as cheryl swallows loudly and lets out a whimper before she licks her lips and nods furiously. 

 

“o-okay.” she breathes.

 

“okay.” toni whispers back, her heart thundering in her ears as that thudding sound echoes out once more, but there’s no high pitched noise that follows, and toni’s throat is so goddamn dry right now, but she jumps off the bed and grabs her bra, quickly slipping it back on as cheryl starts getting dressed again as well. by the time toni’s got her shirt back on and grabs one of her flannel shirts off the ground to slip her arms through, cheryl’s fully dressed and trembling with nothing but fear as toni pushes the sleeves of her shirt up to her forearms and reaches out to take cheryl’s hand in her own with a reassuring, but incredibly shaky smile.

 

“we’re gonna be okay. try not to make any noise, baby.” toni whispers, closing her eyes with dread as the thudding sound echoes out again, somehow even closer to their room, and god, cheryl’s shaking so badly, but she’s being so brave, the way she raises her chin and nods once before interlacing her fingers with toni and closing her eyes, the tears clinging to her eyelashes quickly falling down her cheeks as she exhales shakily.

 

and in this moment, toni can’t help herself.

 

she grips cheryl’s face and closes the gap between them, kissing her deeply as cheryl whines against her and grips the lapels of her flannel to pull her closer with a choked out sob.

 

“this is my fault, it’s all my fault, toni-.”

 

“shh…if you think i’m gonna let that twiggy son of a bitch hurt me, you’re wrong, cher. and if you think i regret you coming here tonight, you’re wrong, too. i’d rather risk my life a hundred times than go another day without you.” toni says firmly, smiling as cheryl bites down on her trembling bottom lip before she leans forward to kiss toni’s brow gently.

 

“i love you.” she whispers. toni blinks back her own tears and kisses her one last time, praying to every god she knows that this really isn't the last time...

 

“i love you.” she whispers back before she interlaces their fingers once more and exhales shakily, steadily making her way over to the door as another thud resounds loudly just outside it.

 

_alright you fucker…you better not be right outside this door like some fucking horror movie monster or i swear to god…_

 

god, when did her life become some even more fucked up version of _halloween?_

 

_this fucking town with its murdering psychopathic fathers and serial killers and fucking deadly board games..._

 

toni reaches for the door handle, and she looks back at cheryl anxiously, unable to keep the fear on her face off it as cheryl clutches her hand tightly and simply shakes her head as if to tell toni not to open it-

 

toni throws the door open with an almost murderous cry, and honestly, part of her was really not expecting him to be there-

 

but he’s there.

 

and holy shit, does toni almost faint from the feeling of complete and utter dread that grips her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay here's the conclusion for this, it probably makes zero sense and is a shit ending but legitimately had no idea where to go with this and wrote it on a whim LMAO. I DID A RIVERDALE WRITERS JOB AND MADE SHIT UP, SUE ME.
> 
> anyway, it's got a cute ending that's all that matters. and a shoutout to fred, because he truly was the greatest dad in riverdale. <3
> 
> hope you guys like it, leave a comment letting me know and as always, my twitter is @endofdaysforme. thanks for reading...whatever the HELL this was!

“come on!”

 

the steady sounds of cheryl panting behind her is what spurs toni forward down the stairs of the empty speakeasy, their warm fingers interlaced as toni drags her across the dancefloor towards the back room with her gaze constantly falling behind them for any sign of horns or twigs-

 

“toni! he’s gonna find us-.”

 

“no, he won’t!” toni growls, throwing the back door open and pulling cheryl forward before she grabs the door and closes it shut quickly, locking it and stepping back with her eyes deadset on the door, cheryl’s soft whimpers reaching her ears as she steps back far enough to bump into her red haired girlfriend with a grunt, the both of them panting heavily for air as toni clutches the stitch in her side with a groan.

 

“toni…” cheryl’s voice is trembling, nothing but fear dripping from every syllable she utters as toni exhales shakily and turns to face her with the best smile she can muster despite her panic.

 

“we’re gonna be okay, baby. i’m gonna call archie and tell him to bring the others here. just keep breathing, cher.” 

 

toni keeps their fingers interlaced as she sits cheryl down on the bed she’s passed out on so many times before, frowning as she pulls her phone out of her back pocket with trembling fingers, quickly sending a text message to archie despite how badly she’s shaking.

 

**you [03:41]**   
_GK found us. at the speakeasy. hurry. bring EVERYONE._

 

“toni…”

 

the sound of cheryl’s voice filled with so much fear, so much panic has toni looking up from her phone before she sends the message off, shoves her phone back into her pocket and brings cheryl’s hands to her lips, gripping them in her own and pressing a kiss to her knuckles with a shaky smile.

 

“are you okay? did you get hurt when we crashed through the window?” toni asks with concern, eyes roaming over cheryl’s body quickly for any signs of injury, and cheryl doesn’t reply, her eyes focused on a point above toni’s left eyebrow-

 

“ _you’re_ hurt, t.t.” she croaks out, tears welling in her eyes as she lifts a hand to touch her forehead, and toni feels the sting the second her fingers make contact. she hisses and flinches back instinctively, her own fingers moving up to touch the wound she didn’t even realize was there before she pulls it back at the touch of something wet.

 

splotches of blood on her fingertips-

 

“your face is covered in blood, toni…” cheryl whispers, her tears spilling over as toni licks her lips and stands up straight, glancing around the back room until she finds a rag on the shelves against the wall. she sighs and reaches out to grab it, giving it a quick glance over to make sure it’s clean before she’s pressing the rag to her wound, wincing at the pain with her back turned to cheryl so she doesn’t see. the last thing she needs is cheryl panicking even more right now…

 

as soon as toni had opened the bedroom door at thistlehouse, she’d frozen up. the sight of the gargoyle king before her had sent this fear throughout her body that she couldn’t explain, but before anything else could happen, cheryl had grabbed toni’s hand and dragged her straight to the window of her room before they’d both crashed through it to the trellis beneath cheryl’s bedroom, landing roughly on the roof before they both climbed down the side and ran.

 

they didn’t stop running until they reached the speakeasy.

 

they’re both dripping in sweat, soaked to the skin, and there’s so much adrenaline pumping through toni’s veins right now, her forehead doesn’t even hurt that bad despite how much she’s bleeding. she looks up into the small mirror over the sink on the wall, sees how the side of her face is caked in her own blood, dripping down her jawline…

 

“it’s bad, t.t…” cheryl whispers, and toni glances at her in the mirror to see her wincing as she stands-

 

“where are you hurt?” toni says immediately, spinning around with wide eyes as cheryl swallows thickly, swaying on the spot before she falls back down onto the bed with a heavy pant, her eyes fluttering closed.

 

“my…my shoulder…” cheryl breathes, and toni rushes over to her and sits down beside her, spinning her slightly before her heart drops down to her feet.

 

blood, blood all over her shoulder, staining her white shirt, a shard of glass sticking out of her skin-

 

“fuck…fuck, stay still, baby, don’t move!” toni says hoarsely, pressing a kiss to the back of her head as cheryl whimpers and digs her nails into her thighs, and toni glances around the room quickly, desperately looking around for some kind of first aid kit-

 

she jumps up and rushes over to the sink when she finds one on the small shelf beneath the basin, and she throws the rag at her head into the sink before rushing over to cheryl once more, her own injuries forgotten as cheryl takes deep breaths in.

 

“here, cher-bear, take my phone…call archie if he hasn’t responded to my text while i patch this up.” toni says firmly, handing cheryl her phone, and the girl takes it, exhaling shakily as she unlocks it with the passcode. toni sees her smile lightly when the phone unlocks before she turns her head to look at toni with soft eyes.

 

“your passcode is still my birthday?” she murmurs. toni smiles sadly and tucks a lock of hair behind cheryl’s ear, simply nodding once before the red haired girl sighs shakily and turns back around to the phone, immediately scrolling through toni’s contacts to archie’s number. 

 

toni brushes her fingers over the sharp edges of the glass protruding out of cheryl’s shoulder, her bottom lip caught between her teeth as she grabs the scissors from the first aid kit and cuts the shirt around the glass to get a better look at the wound without moving cheryl’s body too much. 

 

cheryl must have the same adrenaline pumping through her, however, because she simply places the phone to her ear as toni licks her lips nervously and ascertains that the glass isn’t too deep into her shoulder to cause major internal bleeding. it looks superficial enough to be pulled out…

 

“deep breaths, cher, i’m gonna pull the glass out, okay?” 

 

cheryl’s eyes flutter closed as she nods once, pursing her lips and exhaling as toni grips the glass between her thumb and forefinger, her free hand gripping cheryl’s shoulder before she pulls on the glass with a grunt.

 

cheryl inhales sharply through clenched teeth, her nails digging into toni’s thigh before she exhales shakily with tears quickly falling down her cheeks from the pain as toni grabs a rag and presses it against the wound to stop the bleeding.

 

“good job, baby, you did amazing.” toni murmurs, leaning in to kiss her cheek softly before resting her forehead against cheryl’s temple.

 

it’s quiet for a few moments, only the sound of the phone ringing echoing out before finally, archie answers. 

 

“hello?” he croaks out, voice groggy and thick with sleep, and cheryl exhales shakily once more as toni quickly gets to work patching her shoulder up.

 

“archie…it’s cheryl. toni and i are at the speakeasy, we’re hiding out from the gargoyle king. he found us at thistlehouse.” 

 

“WHAT?!”

 

cheryl winces and pulls the phone back before she sighs as toni grabs a rag from the first aid kit and douses it in rubbing alcohol with her other hand still pressing the other rag against her wound.

 

“please, archie, we don’t know what to do-.”

 

“just stay put, lock yourselves in the back room and don’t open for anyone or anything! i’ll be there as soon as i can, cheryl!” 

 

archie hangs up before cheryl can say anything, and the red haired girl sighs and drops the phone as toni trails her hand down cheryl’s pale arm with a sigh of her own, pulling the rag away to see the wound isn’t bleeding too bad anymore.

 

“it doesn’t look like it needs stitches, but we need to get you to a hospital as soon as possible.” toni murmurs, squeezing cheryl’s bicep as the girl simply nods, and toni drops a kiss to the back of her neck and holds the alcohol soaked rag to her shoulder.

 

“deep breaths, this is gonna hurt, cher-bear.” 

 

cheryl sinks back into her touch, nails squeezing her thigh as toni presses the rag down on the wound gently.

 

cheryl lets out a whimper, her back stiffening with pain as her head drops, and toni blinks back her tears and adjusts herself until her legs are on either side of cheryl’s body, her fingers brushing away red hair from her neck and over her non-injured shoulder, dropping kisses to her skin to calm her as she trembles with pain.

 

“it’s okay, cher, just keep breathing, i’m almost done.” cheryl leans back against her, and toni kisses the back of her head before she pulls the rag away and grabs a bandage from the kit, all her focus solely on making sure cheryl is okay.

 

her girlfriend is quiet as toni works on her, simply digs her nails into toni’s thigh whenever the pain becomes too much, and toni continues to press kisses to her hair every time she does to calm her while she quickly cleans the wound properly and lays the bandage flat over the wound itself, making sure the entire surface is covered-

 

“toni…if he finds us here-.”

 

“archie’s coming, baby. we’ve just gotta hold on.” toni breathes, resting the bandage over the wound gently as cheryl shakes her head with a soft whine.

 

“wh-what if he d-doesn’t come in t-time-.”

 

“then i’m gonna keep you safe. we’re gonna be okay, you _have_ to believe that, cher-bear.” toni whispers, hugging cheryl close to her body, wrapping her arms around the redhead’s chest as cheryl melts into her touch with an exhausted sigh. 

 

“i shouldn’t have gone to thistlehouse, i just…i m-missed you so m-much-.” cheryl’s head falls into her hands, choked out sobs escaping her as toni pulls her impossibly closer with a whine of her own, her bottom trembling.

 

god, she hates this, she hates this so much, she just wants to go home with her girlfriend, cuddle up under the blankets, _knowing_ that they’re both safe, but instead, they’re running from strange creatures and fighting for their lives, already injured and beaten and broken, this isn’t _fair…_

 

she can’t believe it’s come to this. that in order to keep each other safe, they can’t be together. that cheryl’s been forced to stay away from her, forced into a life of misery for the last three months all to protect her-

 

“shh, it’s okay…i’m glad you came, cheryl, you have no idea how much i missed you, too…shh, cher, please, i don’t regret it, not for a second…” cheryl shakes her head, pulling it up out of her hands and gripping toni’s arms around her chest like a lifeline with a stuttering inhale.

 

“toni, your life…your life is in d-danger-.” 

 

“i don’t care. i _don’t care_ , cheryl. i love you…i love you so much, baby-.”

 

cheryl turns in her arms with a loud sob, grips toni’s face in her hands and kisses her deeply, tears falling down both their cheeks as she adjusts herself until she’s straddling toni’s lap, hands gripping her shoulders while toni’s move under what remains of cheryl’s shirt to clutch at sweat soaked pale skin, desperate to get as physically close to her as possible after three months without her, three agonizing months…

 

“i missed you…” cheryl whispers against her lips before her hands are cradling toni’s face, brushing over the dried blood caked to the side of her face as she pushes her thumbs under toni’s chin to lift her head up, to accommodate their height different as she sits higher on toni’s lap while toni simply sits there with her hands roaming under cheryl’s shirt, drinking in every inch of her…

 

toni still can’t wrap her mind around everything that’s happened, but right now, with cheryl in her arms, she doesn’t even want to bother. doesn’t even want to think about the fact that she has some murderous, supernatural tree that’s capable of teleporting into homes hell bent on finding her and killing her…

 

right now, she has cheryl in her arms, and if it means she dies, she dies. as long as she has these last few moments with the woman she loves, that’s all she cares about. finding that letter, _fathoming_ the idea that cheryl didn’t love her, it cost toni so much, so goddamn much, and now…now she’s here, and it’s all been a horrible, terrible lie conducted to protect her life, because cheryl _does_ love her, so much so that she’s forced herself into being her mother’s goddamn slave to keep toni alive and safe and well, god, this girl…toni is willing to die for her, she really is. and if the gargoyle king shows up tonight, if he kills her…then so be it.

 

but cheryl…she needs to get cheryl to safety, she _needs_ to…she won’t let cheryl die tonight, if that fucking _thing_ finds them again, she won’t let cheryl die by that thing’s hands. she wants cheryl to grow old, wants to see that red hair become peppered with grey, wants cheryl to have a long, happy, fulfilled life, wants to see her chasing her little red haired babies around the backyard of thistlehouse with a goddamn smile on her face with laughter, not…not _this._ not the fear and the horror and the absolute and utter dread over their situation right now as she holds toni close and begs to every god she knows that they don’t take away her pink haired girlfriend from her. 

 

_cheryl deserves to be happy…_

 

and god, toni _wants_ to be there to witness that happiness because it’s the only thing she could ever want in her entire goddamn life. if she equates to nothing, if she’s remembered as nothing but southside trash, that’s _fine_ , just as long as she does everything in her fucking power to make sure that _cheryl blossom lives a happy life._

 

toni has no doubts, _that_ is her purpose in life. her life doesn’t end here today at the hands of the gargoyle king. and maybe toni’s does but not cheryl’s…not cheryl’s.

 

as soon as archie gets here, toni’s throwing cheryl into his arms and begging him to get her the hell out.

 

toni has no idea how long they’re making out for, hands roaming over each other’s skin, woudns forgotten and the taste of tears and salty sweat lingering on her tongue with every pass it makes over cheryl’s lips, but the sound that eventually hits them has them springing apart wildly with loud gasps.

 

a dull thud, followed by a high pitched whine-

 

toni doesn’t even cover her ears this time around. and she doesn’t feel an ounce of fear, either.

 

no, antoinette topaz, for the first time in her life, feels pure, unadulterated _rage._

 

she growls under her breath, knows that _fucking_ thing is here not only for her, but for cheryl, and the rush of bravery that hits her, the utter _need_ to keep cheryl safe has her lifting her girlfriend off her lap to sit her down on the bed before she’s glaring at the door in anticipation, reading for it to burst open so she can tackle that fucking thing to the ground-

 

“come on, you son of a bitch, i’m ready for you-.”

 

“toni! n-no, we have to r-run-.” cheryl grabs toni’s hand, pulling her back desperately with this choked out sob, and toni stumbles back down onto the bed with a grunt before she turns and grips cheryl’s face into her hands with a shake of her head.

 

“no more running. we’re ending this now, cher. you stay here, okay? you stay put, you stay _safe-_ ”

 

“n-no! n-no, toni p-please, d-don’t leave me, don’t g-go out there, he’s gonna k-kill you-.” cheryl chokes out, tears streaming down her cheeks, the panic in her eyes making toni’s heart ache as toni blinks back her own and kisses cheryl as passionately as she possibly can, pouring every ounce of her love for this girl into this one kiss just in case, god…just in case…

 

“i love you. i love you so much, stay here, baby…” toni reaches into the first aid kit and grabs the scissors, but cheryl whimpers and tries to hold her back.

 

“n-no! t-toni, don’t do th-this-.” toni silences her with another kiss, grips the back of her neck and rests her forehead against cheryl’s for the briefest moment before she jumps up from the bed, yanking her hand out of cheryl’s grip and ignoring her screams of panic as she throws the door open with her heart thundering in her ears, adrenaline running through her veins and a loud cry escaping her lips.

 

toni only sees a flash of dark robes, a flash of that goddamn bone mask, so sinister, so _terrifying,_ only sees a glimpse of branches before, beyond her goddamn control, she’s been thrown backwards through the air by something unseen, crashing down into the guest tables of the speakeasy roughly and rolling onto the ground as the last table she crashes against collapses from her weight slamming down into it.

 

the pain is _excruciating_ , but not as excruciating as hearing cheryl’s screams of terror, the blood rushing to toni’s ears as she groans and tries to roll over, but she can’t move, her whole body trembling and aching-

 

“NO!” 

 

toni only sees a blur of red hair before cheryl’s face swims into view, the look of panic in her eyes making her heart ache as her head is pulled onto something soft, cheryl’s arms wrapping around her protectively, hiding her from view-

 

“please! d-don’t hurt h-her, take m-me instead! please, t-take me instead!” cheryl screams out to the gargoyle king, and toni’s heart _stops_ before it kicks into overdrive, suddenly finds the strength to push herself up, coughing roughly at the pain that wracks her back as she shakes her head furiously.

 

“n-no, no way-.” toni gasps out, tears of pain streaming down her face as the taste of blood hits the back of her throat, and cheryl adjusts herself and suddenly wraps an arm around toni’s waist, grabs her arm to pull it over her shoulders to support her while toni pushes herself up with a hiss, glaring at the gargoyle king as he comes into view, watches as he raises those goddamn things he calls arms-

 

“please…please, i just w-wanted one n-night with h-her!” cheryl begs, her whole body shaking against toni’s as this guttural growl escapes the creature before them-

 

“YOU STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!” toni roars, pushing cheryl back slowly and gasping at the pain that explodes up her left leg with each step she limps, her eyes roaming the broken tables for some kind of weapon-

 

“i’m sorry, i’m so sorry, i’ll f-follow the r-rules of the q-quest, i’ll obey, p-please don’t k-kill her!” cheryl says behind her, her front pressed against toni’s back as the former serpent grips cheryl’s hand and squeezes tightly while the gargoyle king just watches them, and before toni can even blink, this pain, this indescribable pain explodes throughout her entire body-

 

she screams, can’t hold it in for the goddamn _life_ of her as she falls to her knees and clutches her head, this pressure building behind her eyes and mounting and mounting to the point where she can’t even keep her eyes open, and everything turns white, this ringing sound echoing in her brain, getting higher and higher in pitch as blood trickles down her ears, the taste of it stagnant in the back of her mouth before it’s projectile flooding down her chin, causing her to cough and splutter-

 

“CHERYL!? TONI!?”

 

the sound is muffled, but it’s there, and then there’s the slightly encased sound of what sounds like fireworks before all too quickly, the pressure is gone.

 

toni groans in relief, feels cold fingers gripping her body, moving over her face as the sound of cheryl’s cries echoes in her ear, and she looks up past the stream of tears falling down her cheeks, past the blurred vision to see-

 

god, toni has never been happier to see that goddamn head of red hair as archie andrews comes barreling down the steps, a baseball bat in his hands and fred andrews right behind him, a shotgun held up and pressed tight against his shoulder as he takes aim for a second time-

 

toni grabs cheryl’s arm and pulls her down, the both of them crashing to the ground as the sound of the shotgun exploding echoes out much louder than before, followed by this incredibly loud, incredibly high pitched scream that has cheryl and toni both clapping their hands over their ears with winces of pain.

 

“cheryl, toni, stay down!” fred andrews yells out before toni hears him grunting, the sound of something heavy thudding to the ground as archie cries out-

 

“i’m s-sorry, toni, i’m so sorry-.” cheryl sobs, her hands gripping toni’s face and the pink haired girl smiles weakly, her whole body throbbing with pain and her insides turning with each breath she manages to suck in.

 

“n-not…your fault…s’okay…s-stay d-down…” toni manages to rasp out, gripping cheryl’s hand in her own and reaching a trembling hand up to brush her thumb over cheryl’s cheek as the girl continues to wail, her quivering bottom lip clutched between her teeth with a whimper. 

 

another grunt before that high pitched scream echoes out again, and toni pushes herself up with a loud groan, peeks a glance at archie andrews swinging his bat at the gargoyle king, connecting with it’s head before he’s thrown back by some unknown force…

 

toni’s eyes land on fred’s shotgun just a few meters away from her, watches as the gargoyle king focuses his attention on archie, who scrambles to his feet and grabs his bat before he’s being thrown forward once more-

 

“archie!” fred jumps up from where he’s sprawled on the ground, wincing with each step he takes towards his son before he’s helping him off his feet, and toni makes an executive decision then and there.

 

she groans from the pain, but pulls herself away from cheryl and begins crawling towards the shotgun, pressing a finger to her lips at cheryl to indicate for her to keep quiet, and god, her arms are so goddamn sore, but she keeps digging her forearms and dragging her legs, moving her hips closer and closer to that goddamn shotgun, desperate to get her hands on it, to end this once and for all…

 

the second her fingers close around that stock of the gun, she’s pulling it towards her body before grabbing the edge of one of the chairs in front of her, using it to push herself up with a shaky grumble of pain, and she hears the sound of wood splintering, turns to see archie holding up his now broken bat as fred’s face pales at the sight. he looks up at the gargoyle king before he’s bravely, boldly moving himself in front of his son, keeping him protected as the gargoyle king gets closer and closer to them-

 

“HEY!” toni shouts, watching as the gargoyle king slowly turns before she raises the shotgun and holds the butt of it to her shoulder, keeping it steady and firm, her aim focused straight at the gargoyle king’s head.

 

she’s ending this right now.

 

there’s no catchphrase to be said, granted, she’s always wanted a badass moment like those ones in action movies where the hero says something cool before he kills the villain. now that she’s in the situation, with bile forming in the back of her throat, her body throbbing with pain and blood trickling down her ears, mouth and nose…

 

toni just pulls the trigger without uttering a word. 

 

she almost falls back from the kickback, but she watches in awe as the pellets of bullets slam into the gargoyle king’s mask, the entire thing shattering and this burst of bright light shining over the entire speakeasy, causing toni to squint and raise an arm to cover her eyes with a grunt as that high pitched scream echoes out once more even louder, that light shining brighter and then-

 

nothing.

 

no big explosion, no grand finale. the light dies, the scream fades, and suddenly, they’re alone.

 

it’s toni, barely managing to keep herself up, the gun dropping from her hands weakly and it’s cheryl, frozen in shock on the ground, watching the spot where the gargoyle king vanished in complete and utter surprise and awe.

 

it’s archie and it’s fred, clutching each other tightly, both so protective over the other, looking around the speakeasy in confusion before fred looks his son up and down, checking for any injuries with a frown of concern.

 

“are you okay, son?” fred asks anxiously, letting out a sigh of relief when archie purses his lips and nods once.

 

the pink haired girl feels her knees beginning to buckle, and she hears cheryl shout her name before her girlfriend scrambles to her feet and rushes to toni’s side quickly, hands gripping her face and forcing her to look into beautiful brown eyes that have her smiling, all her pain erased-

 

“i’m okay…are you?” toni breathes, watching as cheryl whimpers before she’s wrapping her arms around toni’s neck and burying her head into her shoulder, toni blinking back her tears and holding cheryl just as close despite how badly her whole body is aching right now. 

 

she hears footsteps, cracks open an eye to see archie and fred making their way over to them with small smiles, and toni reluctantly pulls away from cheryl and faces fred with a shaky sigh.

 

“do you think he’s dead?” she croaks out. fred sighs before he simply shakes his head.

 

“i’m not sure. i didn’t understand the gargoyle king when i played the game and the truth is, all these years later, i still don’t understand him. but he’s gone _for now_ , and that’s what matters. even if you didn’t kill him, you hurt him pretty bad. you did great, toni.” fred says softly, reaching out to grip her shoulder with a reassuring smile that she happily returns. 

 

“you’re in rough shape, toni…” archie says with concern, looking her up and down as cheryl sniffs beside her, and toni simply purses her lips, hissing in pain when her teeth dig into a cut on her lower lip before she sighs. 

 

“i’m okay…just bruised and battered and in urgent need of a shower. cher…” toni looks beside her at her girlfriend with worry, but cheryl grips her hand in her own, interlacing their bloodied fingers with a shaky sigh before she nods.

 

“i’m okay, t.t. let’s go home.” 

 

“oh no, i’m not letting you go back to thistlehouse with just the two of you after all of this, and with those injuries as well? we’re going straight to a hospital and then you’re coming back to our place. there’s a guest bedroom downstairs with a bathroom and everything, you’re welcome to stay there as long as you’d like, or at least until we get this whole gargoyle king business sorted. why was he after you two in the first place?” 

 

archie exchanges a glance with a very tired cheryl and toni before he chuckles and grips his father’s shoulder.

 

“it’s a long story, dad. i’ll tell you in the car.” 

 

\----------

 

“if anything happens, you both scream as loud as you can. archie and i are gonna be home all day, so you’re both safe, okay?” fred says with a smile, resting blankets on top of the guest bed as cheryl helps toni sink down onto it slowly, the both of them refreshed and showered, no longer covered in blood and sweat, wearing their own pajamas after getting the all clear at the hospital and stopping at thistlehouse to pick some clothes up for their stay here at the andrews’s home. 

 

“thank you, mr. andrews. we appreciate this so much.” toni croaks out, wincing as she sits down on the bed with a sigh.

 

“no problem, girls. and cheryl…i’ll be having a word with that mother of yours. she can’t be allowed to get away with this. we’re gonna keep you safe from her no matter what, i promise.” fred says firmly. cheryl swallows thickly, blinking back tears as she smiles up at him with a simple nod, and he sighs before he makes his way to the door, looking back at them with a reassuring smile as he does.

 

“get some rest, girls. if you need anything, let archie know.” 

 

“thank you.”

 

as soon as the door closes behind him, cheryl lets out a shaky sigh, runs her towel through her damp hair one last time before she begins drying toni’s hair as well, grasping the pink strands between the materials and squeezing as toni smiles at her tiredly.

 

“that towel’s gonna have pink dye all over it now.” she murmurs, and cheryl chuckles before she leans in to press a kiss to toni’s cheek softly.

 

“i’m sure mr. andrews won’t mind. come on, t.t., you need rest after tonight.” 

 

toni sighs, but nods slowly, drags herself over to one side of the bed with a groan before she holds her arms open for cheryl, who hesitates before she sighs and collapses down beside toni with an equally painful wince taking over her features.

 

“how’s your shoulder?” toni murmurs, wrapping her arms around cheryl tightly, but not painfully as the red haired girl begins peppering her collarbone and neck with kisses. 

 

“it’s okay. the doctor said it didn’t need stitches and that the bleeding has already stopped thanks to you, i just need to keep an eye on it and make sure not to do anything that causes the skin to stretch.” cheryl mumbles against toni’s skin, her fingers moving underneath toni’s tank top to brush over her spine as the pink haired girl rests her chin on top of cheryl’s head with a loud exhale. 

 

“mmm…i’m supposed to be on bed rest for the next three days, but…god, if the gargoyle king is still out there-.”

 

“i don’t want to think about it, t.t. if…if he’s down and out for now, then that’s good enough for me. i want to spend the next few days right here with _you_ then, cherishing every moment until he comes back and t-takes me away from you again-.”

 

“hey…” toni pulls back, tucks a finger under cheryl’s chin to lift her gaze before she bares her teeth with nothing but determination.

 

“not. gonna. happen. you hear me? if he’s dead or if he isn’t dead, that goddamn quest your mother made is _over_ , cheryl. no ifs, no buts.” toni says firmly with a tone of finality that has cheryl’s bottom lip trembling before she nods once, pushing herself closer to toni as she does. 

 

it’s quiet for a few moments, toni running her fingers through cheryl’s hair as the girl runs her fingers up toni’s spine, their legs intertwined and bodies pressed close together, and toni can feel herself beginning to drift off to sleep, the feeling of cheryl’s gentle lips pressing kisses up and down the column of her throat tenderly lulling her into unconsciousness…

 

“i love you, toni. i’m sorry that i left-.”

 

“you were doing it to protect me, cher-bear. i understand that now…after everything we faced tonight, god…i’d do the same thing. it’s okay, baby, i forgive you.” toni murmurs softly, her lips resting against cheryl’s hairline before they pucker into an affectionate kiss. cheryl relaxes into her touch quickly, her breath hitting toni’s skin and making her shiver, pulling cheryl closer to her with a soft hum.

 

“god, i missed this so much…having you in my arms, feeling your body against mine…your scent invading the pillows, the sheets, just everything about you, cheryl…i’m so happy you’re back, i d-don’t care how h-hurt i am physically right now, the h-happiness in my h-heart-.”

 

before she can stop herself, toni’s crying, her whole body shaking, wracked with sobs that cause her nothing but pain, but none of it matter when cheryl pushes herself up, grips toni’s face between her hands and kisses her soundly, the both of them desperate to be as close as possible, lips against each other’s, savoring the taste after missing it for three whole goddamn months…

 

“i love you, toni.” cheryl breathes, her nose nuzzling toni’s affectionately as the pink haired girl smiles, hiccups slightly from her tears and presses another chaste kiss to her lips.

 

“i love you too, cheryl. no matter what, baby…we stick together from now on. no leaving to protect each other, no hiding things from each other, we _stick together._ through thick and thin, ride or die, it’s you and me, cher-bear. we can get through anything, we just need to be together through it all, help each other, support each other-.”

 

“i know…i know, i’m s-sorry…” cheryl breathes, peppering kisses over her lips, her nose, her forehead, her cheeks, every inch of toni’s face she can reach before her girlfriend chuckles and slowly turns over onto her back with a groan, pulling cheryl down on top of her as she does.

 

“shh…we’re okay, we’re safe…” toni mumbles, wiping away the last of her tears and running her fingers through red hair, and cheryl clutches her shirt between her fingers as, with the sun shining in through the curtains, they both drift off to sleep, exhausted and drained physically, but mentally…happy.

 

happy to just _be together_ again. 

 

and whether the gargoyle king is dead or not, toni knows one thing and one thing for sure.

 

that nothing, not some supernatural entity or a deranged, homophobic mother, is going to tear them apart again.


End file.
